It's Always Been You
by Andromytta
Summary: After a tough battle, Dean finally realizes how he feels about his favorite Angel.


It's Always Been You

Sam and Dean rush into the bunker, dragging a heavily wounded Castiel between them. Despite his own severe injuries, Sam is trying to help Dean balance the nearly dead-weight of the angel. They manage to lay Castiel down on the bed before heading to Sam's room to take care of his wounds. Sam chooses not to point out to Dean that he didn't need to put Cas in his bed, as Castiel has his own room at the Men of Letters bunker.

Dean grabs the well-stocked first aid kit, peeking in at Cas on his way to care for his injured brother. "How bad is it, Sammy?"

"A couple of cracked ribs, sprained ankle, various cuts and bruises. I'm I pain, but I've had worse," Sam replies.

"Alright, well, let's get you patched up." Dean says.

As he helped his little brother clean and dress his wounds, Dean mused about the fight that they had just narrowly survived. When Castiel got a call from Metatron, they all suspected it was a trap. What they didn't expect was that Metatron would have so much power, since Cas took his grace. They didn't know he'd be able to double up by stealing grace from two angels. And they certainly weren't expecting him to come with a mini-militia of demons. Of course, demons that wanted to kill Winchesters couldn't have been that hard to find. At least they escaped, and at least they were finally able to kill Metatron once and for all. Dean just hoped it wasn't at Castiel's expense.

Sam interrupts Dean's reverie. "I'm pretty well stitched up here. You should go check on Cas. One of those demons that pinned me down said that what we were doing was pointless. He said Metatron found a way to enchant his angel blade to inflict as much suffering on Cas as possible. And since his grace isn't back up to full power, he may be really hurt."

"Demons lie," Dean says and tosses a bottle of very strong and most likely illegal pain relievers at Sam. "You don't want to know where I got these."

"No, I don't," Sam agreed as he took a couple of pills out of the bottle and downed them with a glass of water in one gulp. "How are you doing? You seem to have gotten out of there relatively unscathed."

"That's because I'm awesome," Dean states.

"Yeah, you were also a man on a mission," Sam points out.

"Well, Cas' life WAS on the line."

"I know. But from what I saw between the three demons that jumped me, it wasn't just that you were a man on a mission, it's like you were a man…" With that, Sam appears to have dozed off. What really happened was that Sam didn't want to finish his sentence. "A man fighting for love" is what he was going to say. But he knew Dean would protest, and he didn't want to waste time bickering with his brother when he knew Dean needed to be with Cas…just in case.

Since Sam seemed to be dozing off, Dean figured he should see if he could do something about Castiel's injuries. "Those pills will probably keep Sammy asleep until Tuesday anyway," Dean chuckled to himself as he toted the first aid kit to his room.

Dean knew he had to get a good look at the wounds racking Cas' body. He gingerly removed the angel's famed trench coat, marveling at how it didn't have a thread out of place while the rest of his clothes were basically bloody rags. "Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'," Dean said as he folded the coat neatly and placed it in a chair. He then proceeded to remove the rest of Castiel's bloody clothes. "I'm sure it's probably a sin to see my angel in his underwear, but I have to get a look at those wounds," Dean explained to an unconscious Cas.

Once he was able to fully survey the extent of the wounds, Dean started to wonder if maybe that demon hadn't been lying to Sam. Not only were the cuts and stabs bleeding the deep crimson of blood, but the glowing blue of the angel's grace could be seen through every single slice of flesh. Dean worked tirelessly, cleaning and bandaging wounds, stitching the really deep ones. After he finished tending to the final wound, he looked Castiel over thoroughly; to be sure he didn't miss anything. Though it appeared that he had stopped the bleeding, he could still see a glowing blue light behind the bandages.

Dean pulled a chair over so he could sit next to the bed. He took Castiel's hand, and just started praying. At least, in the only way Dean Winchester knew how to, and to the only celestial being he ever really prayed to. "Cas. Castiel. Please…don't die. Don't leave me. I've lost too many people who I called family. If I lost you…" Dean started to feel a lump in his throat. That was an unusual sensation for him. Dean rarely cried much. He swallowed hard and continued. "Dammit, Cas! Cain told me that I was going to kill both you and Sam, and once I killed Sam, that would be the one I wouldn't come back from. He was wrong, Cas. Sure, it would've been awful, and I'm sure I would have gone off the deep end. But Cas, it's you. If I lost you…if I had killed you that would've been the loss I couldn't survive. You have to wake up Cas. You just do."

As Dean was praying to his wounded angel, what he didn't notice was the blue glow that had practically been leaking out of Castiel's body had started to grow duller and duller. His wounds were healing. Whether it was the angel's own mojo, or the emotional words of the person he was closest too, he didn't know, but soon, Castiel was awake. He sat up and instinctively cupped Dean's hand with both of his. "Dean, what happened?" he asked, still a little dazed.

"It was Metatron," Dean answered. "But don't worry, he's not going to be a problem anymore," he added proudly.

Castiel studied Dean's face closely, for what seemed like an eternity. "What's wrong?" He couldn't quite believe it, but it looked almost as if Dean had been crying.

Dean tried to hide the tears that were starting to well up again. He blinked, cleared his throat, and smiled. "I'm just relieved you're ok. Some demon told Sam that Metatron had done some hocus pocus to his blade in order to hurt you…really hurt you."

Castiel looked down at his bandaged body. "He did. It's a miracle I'm alive, let alone awake." He looked at Dean, a soft look deepening his blue eyes. "I'm sure that's because of you."

Dean just looked at Castiel, an unusual look flashing in his green eyes. It was almost as if he were studying the angel's face for the first time. He looked deeply into Cas' eyes before cupping his face in his hands. "It's you, Cas. It's always been you." And suddenly, as if he didn't have control of himself, he kissed the angel, deeply and passionately.

Castiel pulled away, looking surprised, and almost embarrassed. "Dean…I…" He didn't have anything to say, so he simply returned the kiss, with equal passion.


End file.
